Ferguson Not Shopping Around Sundin

shopped around. Trade talks between teams have been heating up as the March 9th trade deadline approaches. The Leafs are in talks, but Sundin isn’t involved in any of them.

“I have not brought his name up,”sais Ferguson

“I know that there are a number or teams that would certainly value his services that he provides for us, as do we.”

“He has done that for a long time and he will continue to do that for a long time. We’re fortunate to have him. He’s a tremendous leader for us and that leadership is going to help us get back to where we need to be.”

Mats Sundin has a no-trade clause in his contract, he won’t be going anywhere unless he absolutley has to. Sundin is in the fourth year of his five year contract with the Leafs which is paying him 6.48 million dollars. There is also an option for 2006-07 which would give him 4.56 million dollars and a 756,000 dollar signing bonus!

“I think (trade talks) have picked up lately. A lot of teams are meeting with their scouting staffs . . . to see what might be out there. That’s occurring right now.” said JFJ.

6 Responses to Ferguson Not Shopping Around Sundin

well trading sundin is not impossible but it is unlikely. and as a leaf fan i am kind of glad about that. his contract his huge and any team taking him on would have to do some maneuvering with their cap space (make trades, waive some players) just to take him on.

at the same time, he is worth it and i do see a lot of teams being interested in him. as a leaf fan i would rather see JFJ attempt to trade Allison, Belfour, Lindros, Antropov, Klee and all the dead weight (Domi, O’Neill, Czerkawski, Belak, Berg, Khavanov) before he tries to trade sundin. that being said, it is not likely that other teams would want these players (with the exception of klee, antropov, and allison).

on the other hand, trading sundin would bring in a few players that would be younger, quicker, and be crucial components to toronto’s future. most importantly, it would have the potential of immediately improving the leafs considering their recent play – ususally, such deals concerning a team’s best player means that a team is improved in the long run. if you look at boston, sure they haven’t torn it up since Joe left boston, but they have a more balanced team – although i still think they could have gotten more in return.

as for the players the leafs should trade:

Allison: his bonuses are the main obstacle to other teams acquiring. rest assured that unlike many on this site, there are many GMs out there who recognize the value of Allison and take his lack of speed and balance it with all the positives (makes his wingers better, potential point-a-game, almost 30 years old, holds on to the puck well and slows the game down around him).

O’Neill: no one wants this guy because he isn’t good at anything anymore. he is untradeable. of course we must take into consideration the mental anguish this guy is going through. but he himself has said that everytime he hits someone, his shoulder flares up. out of respect to his situation, i think the solution is to give him a chance this year and then waive him next year because he doesn’t want to leave his family and no one wants him.

Antropov: his knees are not going to allow this kid to play for very long. but his play this year has been pretty solid. he would bring in a low-round draft pick and in the long run this would be more beneficial to the leafs then holding on to him.

Lindros: again, there may be some teams out there interested in Lindros but the leafs won’t get much in return for him (compared to Allison). i would love to see him on mats’ RW for the remainder of this year.

Belfour: like lindros, not much would be coming the other way but at the same time, a team taking on his salary might want to try and dump some of their own so who knows. this deal just isn’t going to happen because i don’t see enough takers out there and i don’t see JFJ being creative enough to make it happen.

Klee: actually a player that other teams would want for defensive depth. considering his contract – 1.9 million – his free agent status, and the fact that the leafs need to free up funds to resign Kaberle and McCabe in the offseason, it makes sense – finally – to trade ken klee even though he is our best defensive defenseman. he has slowed this year a little but i’m happy with what he has done for the leafs. i can only hope that by the time this deal goes down, the leafs would have already dealt for a top-4 blueliner because their defensive depth is pretty shallow.

The existence between coach and captain has forever been uneasy. No matter how Mats Sundin chooses to translate it for public consumption. He won’t open up now. He never will. It isn’t him. He won’t let the outside in. Instead, he keeps peace in the family, the way captains should, the way he always has, and he shares his feelings only with a close few. Not with management. Not with ownership. Not even with his coach. That he doesn’t want to be traded is apparent to anyone who knows him well and always has been. This is where he wants to play. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t philosophical problems between he and Pat Quinn. That doesn’t mean that Sundin is entirely comfortable with how things are. If anything, in this Maple Leafs season going nowhere, those difficulties have festered, and unlike other seasons in which Sundin didn’t like what was going on, suddenly it his own play that has come into question: He doesn’t like what he himself is accomplishing — he has very high standards — and that makes this time all the more challenging.

In a way, it has always come down to vision and interpretation. Quinn has chosen to view Sundin one way. Sundin views himself quiet differently. Quinn deploys Sundin in an almost restrained egalitarian manner. Go back to the biggest games the Leafs have played under Quinn and it’s hard to make the case that he relies no more on his best player, his highest-paid player, than he does on several others who are not Sundin’s equal, in salary or in talent.

Go back to the last playoff game the Maple Leafs played: Keith Primeau, then a dominant centre with the Philadelphia Flyers, played 41 shifts, all the important minutes. Sundin played nine fewer shifts, three fewer minutes of ice time: The bigger star in the biggest game wasn’t given the opportunity to be the bigger star that night — or most nights. And Sundin, who was brought up not to question authority — certainly not in any public or self-absorbed way — has never been totally satisfied with that approach. That is why he has been less than a point a game player for the Leafs with more than a point a game talent. That is why in 575 games played under Quinn he has scored just 547 points.

ILLOGICAL

And before Quinn relinquished the position of general manager, he was caught in his own illogical contradiction: It was under Quinn’s management team that Sundin became one of hockey’s highest-paid players. And it was under his coaching, that his salary forever has seemed greater than his impact. Only once in seven seasons under Quinn has the immensely talented Sundin scored more than 80 points in a season while many of his lessers have bettered those numbers. Quinn, a believer in balance to his credit and to his detriment, has forever anchored him with a Jonas Hoglund or a Chad Kilger or a Mikael Renberg or a Nik Antropov, wingers who were given the ride of a lifetime but failed. Quinn paid Sundin like a star and just never played him that way. Not then. Not now.

And so the Leafs find themselves in a fight for playoff survival, with Bryan McCabe out, with Darcy Tucker out, with Eric Lindros out, with three quality components missing on a team with not enough of them, and still Sundin plays with rookie Alex Steen. He plays less minutes than he should. He doesn’t understand the concept of equal ice and probably will never agree that he should be the horse the Maple Leafs ride.

Sundin’s season began poorly on opening night when he didn’t get through the fourth minute. It has only come back in brief glimpses since. When the team is losing, the focus in this city always turns to coach and captain. Mats Sundin would like nothing better than to play with the Leafs best wingers, to receive Jaromir Jagr ice time and the freedom that goes with it, to make certain he is always on the first power play. He would like that. But it won’t happen under Quinn. The profound tug of war will continue. The coach can’t lose the tug, only the war.

i dont understand why JFJ couldnt get Spacek from the Blackhawks considering that

a) the oilers gave so little in return. i know the leafs don’t have much to offer but they certainly have players on their club that the would be willing to part with that are equal or superior to Salmelinen

b) JFJ was supposedly burning the candle at both ends looking for a D-guy. does this mean that he thinks Rivers coming to toronto is virtually a done deal?

i know jfj doesnt want to do a ‘short-term deal’ but by acquring a depth defenceman it enables him to shop ken klee around at the deadline. right now, there is no depth on their D corps and the leafs are still very much in the hunt for a playoff spot so i don’t see shopping klee as an option.

1) hey, they get to play half of their AHL defence corp and we might see Jay Harrison play his first NHL game!

2) the leafs that are out seem to be on their way to being back – probably all before the olympic break.

3) yes the leafs have tumbled, but the only teams that have really benefitted and taken advantage are the Devils, TB, and the Bruins (yes – the bruins are only a point back now). meanwhile, the habs and thrashers have struggled as of late. so the leafs – who could have been in 11th at this point, are only in 9th – a point back of the thrashers and still in striking distance of the Devils and Lightning.

my worry is that the Lightning are going to join the 2nd tier of teams in the East (currently consisting of the 2nd place teams – NYR and Buffalo) and make that 6th spot in the East impossible to get.